It's For Art
by Thepopcornpup
Summary: "David wasn't sure what to expect from his new roommate. After running all the various possibilities in his head, he still wasn't prepared to, when he opened the door, be faced by a boy, covered head-to-toe in paint, dangling from the ceiling by a rope tied around his waist." (Modern AU, one-shot)


**Author's Note: Ahh! It's been way too long! I mean, Corey Cott's expecting, it was Jeremy Jordan's birthday, I've missed tons. Granted, both those things happened over the span of the past couple days and I've been MIA for about a month, but still. How have you been? Have you seen any cute dogs lately?**

 **Anyway, aside from trying to balance schoolwork and stress, I've been trying to write a fic based around the deleted song that Joey Barrerio and Dan DeLuca sang at The Newsboy's Variety Show, "The Truth About The Moon." But, writer's block is awfully mean to me, so who knows when that will actually be written. But, after stumbling across some fanart, inspiration struck for this silly thing! Yes, it's probably horribly inaccurate considering the laws of physics, and no, you probably shouldn't try what Jack does at home, but let me live.**

 **Also, I have tons of holiday-themed ideas for stories, so hopefully, I'll find the time to write those when the season comes around!**

 **Well, that's all for now! Thanks for reading! Reviews are always appreciated!**

* * *

David wasn't sure what to expect from his new roommate. Would he be friendly? Talkative? Quiet? Outgoing? Shy? Neat? Messy? (Hopefully not, Davey thought.) Creative? Athletic? It beat him. All he knew was that his name was Jack, they were both freshmen, and that they'd be spending at least the next year living together, when Davey had only ever shared a room with his brother.

No biggie.

But, after running all the various possibilities in his head, he still wasn't prepared to, when he opened the door, be faced by a boy, who had paint stainimg his matted brown hair, clothing, and even his too-big boots, dangling from the ceiling by a rope tied around his waist.

Yet, here he was.

"Oh, thank God you're here!" The boy exclaimed. "I didn't know how much longer I'd be tied up here."

"Um..."

"Oh, God, where are my manners?" The boy rolled his eyes. "Name's Kelly, Jack Kelly. You must be David?"

David nodded.

"Ah, well, it's a pleasure, Dave," Jack grinned, spit on his palm, and stuck out his hand.

Davey just stared up at his outstretched palm, still not sure how to react. Eventually, he inched his way inside and stood on his toes, tentatively taking Jack's hand before quickly wiping it on his pant leg.

"Now, uh, do you care to..." Davey gestured vaguely at Jack. "Explain this?"

"Oh, he speaks!" Jack laughed. "Alright, so, it's for art. You see, I'm an art major-"

"I could tell."

"Huh?"

"Th-the paint."

Jack looked down at his paint-stained shirt as if he'd forgotten it was there. "Oh, yeah! Dead giveaway, huh? Anyway, I'm an art major and when I got here- I got here much earlier this mornin', mind you- I was waitin' for you to come and I was wonderin' how to make ya feel welcome. Hospitality, ya know? But, I didn't know what ya liked 'cause I didn't know you. Still don't, in fact, that's something we gotta do. But, I figured, what's the best way to introduce myself and make ya feel welcome? I'll paint ya somethin', of course! I realized this room was also kinda drab and I thought, well, hey, I can do anything I want to this room. I couldn't ever really do that as a kid 'cause I bounced from foster home to group home and back, so I never really got my own room to do that. So, I thought I'd spruce up the place as a way to welcome you.

"So, the plan was to paint a mural on the ceiling. I wasn't sure if you'd have posters you'd wanna put on the wall, so I thought I'd do it on the ceiling so it wouldn't get in your way. Plus, I'se always liked painting galaxies and I thought it'd be cool to paint a galaxy on the ceiling so it'd be like a night sky. Anyway, I ran to the hardware store and bought a ladder. So, I get back, and set up the ladder, right? But it's too damn short. Of course."

"Are you sure you weren't too short?" Davey smirked.

"Oh, shut up," Jack folded his arms, but quickly unfolded them when the motion threw off his balance suspended in the air. "Just wait 'til you meet Spot.

"Okay, so, the ladder's too short, great. And, I didn't know when you was gettin' here, so I thought I was runnin' outta time, and the hardware store ain't close. So, I'm like, dammit, what do I do? But, then, I spotted this guy outside carryin' this rope! So, I rushed downstairs and asked if I could borrow it, and he said I could. Remind me, Dave, I'se gotta give this rope back to some fella called Race. Dunno why he had it, but it was lucky I saw him.

"Anyway, I had the brilliant idea to tie the rope to the bed-post, the light fixture, and me, and create some kinda pulley system. I used the ladder to get me off the ground, then I kinda pulled myself up. And, so I painted it, everything worked out fine, as you can see."

Jack paused to motion at his creation, which Davey looked up to see. He had to say, it was a really incredible painting. Different purples and blues swirled together with shimmering silver stars had all been painted with extreme care to make the stunning image. Davey nodded, prompting Jack to grin, as if he'd been awaiting approval. "It's amazing."

"Thanks," Jack nodded back. "Anyway, after I finished, I went to lower myself down, but, as I tried to step onto the ladder, I kicked it over."

Jack pointed to the ground, and Davey now saw the ladder sadly lying on the floor.

"Yeah, good goin', Jack," Jack said to himself. "So, I tried to lower myself down to the floor, but I quickly realized that I really can't do that from my angle without just throwing myself at the ground, and that'd be no good. So, I waited. And, here you are! So...can ya help?"

Davey blinked. Finally, he chuckled. "You could have told me all that after I got you down, you know?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "We all make mistakes, now, come on."

Davey chuckled again, and examined Jack's poorly-made pulley before saying, "Okay, I'm going to have to pull you down by the feet."

"Whatever it takes," Jack shrugged.

With that, David grabbed Jack's feet and pulled him down slowly until he hit the floor. Davey then stood up and untied the rope around Jack's waist.

"Oh, sweet freedom!" Jack exclaimed, thrusting his fists in the air. "Thank you, Dave, I owe you big time." Swinging his arm around Davey, he added, "Tell ya what, how's about we get some fro-yo from down the street? My treat."

Davey shook his head. "Oh no, I couldn't let you buy me stuff when we've known each other for like, five minutes."

"Hey, it's fine!" Jack clapped Davey on the back and began walking him out of the dorm. "But, if it makes ya that uncomfortable, we could split the cost, 70/30."

Davey nodded, then paused. "Wait-"

"Alright, it's a deal, 70/30!" Jack cut him off. "How generous of you, Dave."

Davey paused before rolling his eyes. This year was certainly going to be an adventure.


End file.
